Victor Miller (writer)
 | This article needs more citations. (September 2026) |
Victor Miller | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Victor Brooke Miller May 14, 1940 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | August 31, 2026 (aged 86) Alameda, California, U.S. |
| Occupations | Actor, film writer |
| Years active | 1968–2026 |
| Spouse |
Elizabeth Thurston (m. 1962) |
| Website | victormiller |
Victor Brooke Miller (May 14, 1940 – August 31, 2026) was an American writer for film and television. He was best known for his screenplay of the original Friday the 13th film, the popularity of which spawned a long series of sequels. Miller was not involved with any of the sequels, though he remains credited with creating the characters of Jason Voorhees, his mother Pamela Voorhees, and the heroine Alice Hardy.
Miller also wrote for several daytime television series, for which won three Daytime Emmy Awards. His television work includes Guiding Light, One Life to Live, Another World, and All My Children. Much of his tenure of several shows were working under head writer Megan McTavish.
Early life
[edit]Miller was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on May 14, 1940, the son of John Dabney and Barbara Leovy Miller. He attended Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts, and Yale in New Haven, Connecticut, where he said he took every creative writing course offered.[1] Beginning in 1962, he worked in television programming for a year with Stuart Erwin, Lee Rich, Irwin Segelstein, and Phil Capice at Benton & Bowles Advertising in New York City. He co-founded the American Shakespeare Theatre's Center for Theatre Techniques in Education and attended Herbert Berghof's playwriting class in New York City.
Directing and writing career
[edit]Friday the 13th was Miller's most successful film, grossing $59,754,601 worldwide on a very low budget of $550,000. The original is the only one of the series that had Miller's involvement; it grew into a long series of sequels and became the highest grossing horror franchise in the United States, earning a worldwide total of $465,239,523.
Miller said he had not seen any of the other Friday the 13th films because he did not approve of Jason Voorhees being the killer rather than Jason's mother as she was in the original.[2] Miller was involved in a protracted lawsuit to gain the rights to the first Friday the 13th film. The issue turned on whether Miller's was a "work for hire", resolved on September 30, 2021, when the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decided otherwise; consequently, Miller had the right to terminate rights to his work.[3] For Copyright Act purposes, as a screenwriter, Miller was an independent contractor of the film production company (Manny, Inc.) in 1979, when Miller wrote the screenplay (the film was released in 1980). The court concluded that copyright law, not labor law, controlled the "work for hire" determination, and thus affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to Miller.[4]
He adapted two novels into films: A Stranger Is Watching by Mary Higgins Clark was adapted into the 1982 film of the same name and the 1967 young adult novel The Black Pearl by Scott O'Dell into the 1977 film of the same name. His horror film Rock Paper Dead was released in 2018[5] and he had co-written the script for the horror thriller Eden Falls.[6]
Personal life and death
[edit]Miller was the third of four children. He married Elizabeth (Tina) Couzens Thurston in 1962.[1][7]
Miller died in Alameda, California on August 31, 2026, at the age of 86.[8] No cause of death has been revealed.
Awards and nominations
[edit]Daytime Emmy Awards
[edit]Nominations
[edit]- (1990, 1999, 2001, 2002 & 2004; Best Writing; All My Children)
- (1994 & 1996; Best Writing; Another World)
- (1983; Best Writing; One Life to Live)
Wins
[edit]- (1985, 1988 & 1998; Best Writing; All My Children)
Writers Guild of America Award
[edit]Nominations
[edit]- (1989 & 1999 Season; All My Children)
- (1997 Season; Guiding Light)
- (1993-1995 Season; Another World)
Wins
[edit]- WIN (1998, 2000, 2001 & 2003 Season; All My Children)
Books
[edit]Miller was the author of several books titled, Telly Savalas Kojak in a numbered series. The books were published in New York by Pocket Books between 1974 through 1975. Several reprints were published by Star Books in the U.K. without the series number, but with same title. The series:
- 1974, Kojak #1: Siege
- 1974, Kojak #2: Requiem for a Cop
- 1975, Kojak #3: Girl in the River
- 1975, Kojak #4: Therapy in Dynamite
- 1975, Kojak #5: Death Is Not a Passing Grade
- 1975, Kojak #6: A Very Deadly Game
- 1975, Kojak #7: Take-Over
- 1975, Kojak #8: Gun Business
- 1975, Kojak #9: The Trade-off
Other books:
- 1976, Fernanda, Pocket Books
- 1978, Hide The Children, Ballantine Books
- 1978, Giving In To Get Your Way: The attack-tics system for winning your everyday battles, Delacorte Press
- 1979, Toga Party, Fawcett Books
- 1979, The Glory Sharer, Jove Books
- 1981, Angel's Blood, Playboy Press
- 1981, The Book Of Worries: Hundreds of Horrible Things that Can Happen to You, Warner Books
- 1983, Windborne, Bantam Books
- 1993, Aikido In Everyday Life: Giving In to Get Your Way, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, California Reprint of 1978 with Terry Dobson co-author.
- American Dynasty (3 volumes), Dell Books
Filmography
[edit]- The Black Pearl (1977)
- Manny's Orphans (1978)
- Here Come the Tigers (1979)
- Friday the 13th (1980)
- A Stranger Is Watching (1982)
- Getting In (1994)
- Jury Duty (1995)
- On the Edge (2001)
- Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (Documentary film, 2013)[9]
- Rock, Paper, Scissors (2017)
- Eden Falls (2019)
- The Once and Future Smash (2022)
- Sweet Revenge (Short film, 2025)[10]
Television
[edit]- One Life to Live
- Associate head writer: 1982–1984
- All My Children
- Associate head writer: 1984–1986, 1987–1989, 1997–2001, July 2003 – July 10, 2006
- Guiding Light
- Associate head writer: 1986–1987, 1995–1997
- Another World
- Associate head writer: 1990–1995
- General Hospital
- Associate head writer: 2001–2002
- His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th (Documentary film)[11]
- Appearance: 2009
- Crystal Lake
- Executive producer: 2026 (posthumously)
References
[edit]- 1 2 Martin Cheek (October 13, 2006). "Horror Writer Victor Miller to Keynote Poppy Jasper Film Festival". The Morgan Hill Times.
- ↑ Miller, Victor. "Frequently Asked Questions". Victor Miller - Writer. victormiller.com. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
- ↑ "Producer's Copyright of Friday the 13th Screenplay Slashed In Screenwriter's Termination Lawsuit". JD Supra. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
- ↑ "Horror Inc. v. Miller, No. 18-3123 (2d Cir. 2021)". Justia Law. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
- ↑ Matt Boiselle (November 30, 2017). "Rock Paper Dead Review – Tom Holland Returns With A Potential Future Franchise?". Dread Central.
- ↑ "Exorcist Star Joins Eden Falls" (press release). Bearclaw Films. January 4, 2016.
- ↑ "Victor Miller Weds Elizabeth Thurston". The New York Times. August 5, 1962.
- ↑ "Victor Miller, 'Friday the 13th' Screenwriter, Dies at 86". Variety. September 1, 2026. Retrieved September 1, 2026.
- ↑ "Victor Miller". TVGuide.com. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
- ↑ Paur, Joey (August 15, 2025). "Jason Voorhees Returns For Bloody Vengeance in Friday The 13th Short Film Sweet Revenge". Geek Tyrant. Retrieved June 11, 2026.
- ↑ "Victor Miller". TVGuide.com. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
External links
[edit]- Victor Miller at IMDb
- Official website
- 13 Questions with Victor Miller
- Victor Miller discography at Discogs
- 1940 births
- 2026 deaths
- 20th-century American screenwriters
- 21st-century American screenwriters
- American soap opera writers
- American male screenwriters
- Daytime Emmy Award winners
- Writers from New Orleans
- Writers Guild of America Award winners
- American male television writers
- Screenwriters from Louisiana
- Milton Academy alumni
- Yale College alumni